Indiana topped 6,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time during the state's pandemic, reporting 6,654 new infections in 24 hours Thursday, along with 51 additional deaths.
The record-setting numbers comes just one day after Gov. Eric Holcomb announced plans to bring back some restrictions following several weeks of sharp increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
Thursday's daily case total marks the third daily record this week, topping Wednesday's high of 5,156.
The state has now reported a total of 230,965 cases since the pandemic began, with a surge in new cases in recent weeks. The state has also reported 4,563 fatalities related to the coronavirus during the pandemic, with another 250 cases classified as “probable” COVID-19 fatalities.
Indiana’s positivity rate has still continued to climb, with the seven-day positivity rate on all tests currently sitting at 10.5%. When calculated by the percentage of individual residents who have tested positive, that rate reached 20.4% over the last seven days, crossing 20% for the first time.
A total of 62,683 tests were administered in the last 24 hours, with 23,033 individuals tested during that time. Overall, the state has administered 3,370,098 during the pandemic so far.
Hospitalizations in the state have also continued to spike in recent weeks, hitting another record high, as 2,569 patients are currently hospitalized with coronavirus or coronavirus-like illnesses, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. Approximately 31% of the state’s intensive care unit beds are currently in use by coronavirus patients, while 7.8% of the state’s ventilators are in use by COVID-19 patients. Data showed 22.3% of ICU beds remain available.
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Holcomb said in a coronavirus update Wednesday that as the state's cases, positivity rate and hospitalizations rise, he plans to sign a new executive order Sunday that will bring back some requirements for residents and targeted restrictions for counties seeing large spikes.
"We are in the midst of a second surge," Holcomb said.
The new steps being imposed by Holcomb will limit crowd sizes in counties at the higher-risk levels of coronavirus spread and would cover 87 of the state’s 92 counties as of Wednesday’s update from the state health department.
The executive order starting this weekend will limit crowd sizes to 20 people in the highest-risk red counties and 50 people in the next-riskiest orange counties. The new order will also limit capacity at K-12 sports and extracurricular events.
Holcomb said he was also extending the statewide mask mandate for another month.
